Cubs Have Blast-or 4-to Sweep Padres

July 01, 1993|By Alan Solomon, Chicago Tribune.

SAN DIEGO — Rick Wilkins had a nice month. Sammy Sosa has had a nice couple of weeks. The Cubs had a nice three days. What any of that means in the greater picture won't be known until the final credits roll.

But for now, the Cubs completed their second three-game series sweep of the season Wednesday afternoon, overpowering the San Diego Padres 4-1 in front of 19,044 folks in sunny Jack Murphy Stadium.

All the Cubs' runs came on homers. Sosa hit two, giving him 16, a career high. Wilkins, who long ago passed his career high, hit his 14th. Grace, five short of his career high with half a season to go, hit No. 8.

Together, they gave Jose Guzman (7-6) more than enough runs to beat this dispirited crew. The Cubs' other sweep, June 14-16, was against another expansion team, the Florida Marlins.

Still, especially with four games coming up against the Rockies, potentially it's something to build on-which has been heard before.

"We can definitely get on a string here," Wilkins said. "We've been so close so many times this year, but now we're in a position where we can do it. The first game in Colorado (Friday), we've got to go in with that in mind."

Guzman was terrific. He got out of a one-out, first-and-third jam in the first inning by inducing Fred McGriff to roll into a double play and had a little trouble in the second, when he allowed the San Diego run.

There were a couple of mini-jams afterward, but unlike his loss to the Dodgers last weekend, he prevailed.

"Before, I was being behind and leaving the ball right in the middle," Guzman said. "Now, I'm making the pitch when I really need to."

Wilkins' homer, off starter Wally Whitehurst (2-4) in the second, gave Guzman a 1-0 lead, which he lost in the second. But Sosa opened the fourth inning by hitting one 15 rows up into the seats to restore the one-run lead. Grace and Sosa both connected in the eighth off Pedro Martinez.

Grace, with three hits, boosted his average to .330 and now has 18 RBIs in his last 22 games. He and Randy Myers (who saved his 24th) have been the Cubs' only positive constants.

Yet, if Sosa, who has had serious ups and downs this season, can sustain this pace, he could wind up with some serious numbers.

"I don't worry about hitting 30 or whatever," said Sosa (7 homers, 18 RBIs in his last 13 games). "I've just got to go up there and do like I've been doing-being patient at home plate and getting my pitch."

The first homer, he was reminded, came on a first pitch of his first at-bat.

"I've been taking a lot of pitches, but at the same time, every time I go up there, I've been ready to hit," said Sosa. "So if they give me something like a slider like that, I'll have a good shot at it. And if I keep going the way I am, a lot of things are going to happen."

What's happened to Wilkins continues to astound. In 26 June games, he hit .414 with eight homers and 20 runs batted in. For the season, he's up to .312.

Once again, probably not for the last time: On April 30, he was hitting .122.

"It's just a frustrating experience when you go out there and don't do the things you're capable of doing," Wilkins said. "You just wait for it to happen. I told Billy (Williams, the hitting coach), `When I get hot, I'm going to catch somebody.' "

He seems to have caught and passed the entire National League. The team he plays for, meanwhile, is trying to catch and pass anyone, which hasn't been easy when it continually takes a step backward after every little smidgen of progress. This three-game winning streak ties a season high.

"Going into today, we were 8-17 in the last game of a series," Cubs manager Jim Lefebvre said. "What we really tried to focus in on today was, `Forget the sweep. We've just got to win the last game of the series.' And we did."

Now, at the opportune juncture, come those four with the Rockies in Mile High Stadium.

"One thing they can do is score runs," Lefebvre said. "We've got to go in there with the idea to score more runs than they do. They're a very explosive team up there."